Nativity

Luke 2:6-7 (Good News Translation)

and while they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have her baby. She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger—there was no room for them to stay in the inn.

I’m sure if any of you have ever had children that you remember the panics of going through the contractions and wondering if you would make it to delivery at the hospital or midwives in time for the child to be born

You can travel in cars now in our days which can go fast but sometimes still not fast enough

In the time of Jesus birth they didn’t have cars they traveled by mule or donkey these animals are used for work so they can bare the weight big with long travels and unfamiliar areas where you can’t find a place where it is challenging while you are in labor can be very scary for a you g mother and first time mom

So Mary who was unable to find shelter anywhere and was a first time mom in active labor was very scared at this point after traveling the long journey

In a case like this we’d probably be panicking at that time though Mary and Joseph were very faithful to God and all that he spoke to them so she may have had some fear and anxiety and maybe panics but I think she was so faithful that she relied on her trust and what God had spoke to her and her husband

Though she was faithful and trusting she had had a long travel and was very exhausted and had not even performed birth yet so when she arrived in Bethlehem on a donkey after a long travel and in active labor she may have also been so exhausted that she was weak and not holding up on the donkey from exhaustion also so all she wanted to do was find a place to give birth to her baby

After trying several places time had come that she was going to give birth and she still had nowhere to do it so you gotta imagine the fear and worry of am I gonna make it to somewhere for the birth of this baby and not only for Mary bug also for Joseph for he was doing all he could to keep her comfortable and attend to her attention and needs and he also didn’t have an answer where they would birth this child for there was nothing for them to use and they were running out of time

They did find a manger where they had the only option to deliver in the time of Jesus birth so already stressed out they now had to stress over birth in a manger which was the only place they could find and at that time they didn’t have a doctor to help and they were new parents so I’m sure you can imagine the panics They must have been going through especially Mary all they could do was to rely on their faith and trust God so they settled as well as they could into this lonely old manger trying to get as comfortable as they could get in straw and hay

If you have ever lay in straw or hay you can know how it pokes you and sometimes pokes so hard it hurts

Mary never giving birth before and having to lay in this hay I’m sure affected her fear of delivering the baby and maybe held it longer than it should have taken because of her emotional stability and fears

Labor in itself with us having doctors can sometimes already take long for some women even in these days

Then to have the overwhelming feeling of privacy being exposed as spectators began to come around when they were pretty private people and new time parents could not have helped either for she was in an unfamiliar town did not know anyone or anything around and all these people began to come see the birth for themselves for this was the king

It was like our local news now news spread fast and people came to the birth from all nations to see this special boy

Tonight there will be a Christmas star in the sky just before Christmas in those days they were lead by the Christmas star and the sun and other natural ways of knowing how to get to where they were going they did not have GPS or compass then so they had to rely on what they had been told and heard that the king was born in a manger below the Christmas star and follow the star to Jesus birth definitely nog easy unless you’re a bounty hunter like days now

This gift we’ve been given is most precious gift of all and one that will always remain

Reminding us of the love God has for all of us and in sending his only son to change our lives forever with this story to remind us to hold onto our faith and trust in him that he will guide us and be our journey